OtherSpace Pilot Archetype
A pilot's basic duty is to fly a ship from point A to point B. This being said, a pilot's duty can often branch out in several different directions, and may have other aptitudes. It is not uncommon for a pilot to have some mechanic ability to repair his ship, for example, or to be able to dogfight and operate turret gunnery. Essential Skills These skills are the bread and butter of your character's basic occupation, in other words, your character will have likely ICly trained on these for a long time and honed the skills over years of experience. 1) Piloting- Starting out, a pilot character should have a skill of good. This is the basic skill that indicates training in how to operate air and spacecraft, and if your character acquires a job as a ship pilot, you can expect to be using this quite often. Desired skills Desired skills are very much a part of either the training or daily life of the pilot, but they are not universal to the job description. 1) Dogfighting- Where piloting is about moving a ship from point A to B, dogfighting is about combat with other ships with non-turret weapons. Military pilots will have more training and experience here, but many civilian ships also have weaponry, so the ability to use it in combat is desirable. A civilian pilot will usually start with approximately Fair in this skill, while a military pilot could easily have a rank of Good. 2) Turret Gunnery- Dogfighting is about in-line gunnery, turrent gunnery as a skill is about firing and hitting with (what else?) turrets. Once more, a civilian will likely start with approximately fair in this skill, while a military pilot will tend towards Good. 3) Zero-G Manuevers- This skill, while not essential the the job of a pilot, is very useful in situations where time must be spent in space outside of a ship or if the ship's artificial gravity fails. Most pilots would have at least minimal training in these situations, and could justify at least a rank of Good. Optional skills Optional skills are those which many pilots of the Orion Arm are trained in at some point, but are likely not honed or trained to the levels of a specialist. 1) Mechanic- This skill means that the character has the ability to conduct repairs of machinery. Where this is a universal skill for engineers, a pilot could conceivably have this skill as well. Many pilots could have a rank of Fair in this skill, as having some ability to repair a ship without an engineer around can be essential. 2) Engineering- For those characters who have dedicated themselves almost entirely to machines and starships, going even further than mechanic to having full engineering education is a possibility. ICly learning the engineering trade would take several years, and this is represented by the high cost of engineering as well as the many prerequisites. Look at the Engineer for more info on what it takes to be an engineer. 3) Energy Pistol- Like the logic behind Dogfighting and Turret Gunnery, Energy Pistol is a defense skill that can work with a pistol within the ship itself in case the ship is breached. The reason Energy Pistol is chosen over Projectile Pistol is that while a stun gun (an Energy Pistol), will not cause severe damage to the ship, a revolver could threaten the ship itself. Beyond the Basics After that, you have two things left to consider with your +sheet. One is attributes, which we'll get to in a bit, and the other is fleshing out the character beyond the neccessities. Perhaps your character is a good pool player, you could invest a couple points in the Billiards skill to show this, or perhaps she has contacts in the underworld, which could be symbolized by some points in the Underworld Lore skill. This is the part where you need to think about what the character is, and how various skills can show this. This is also where skills could be added to show knowledge of other areas, like mathematics, for example, which many pilot characters would have likely studied to some level, and physics, to some degree. While not essential, these help make the character seem more realistic, rather than merely being a combination of combat stats. Also, on the game, you can take a look at +sinfo list gifts, +sinfo list faults, and +sinfo list quirks. These may be applied for at the time of your bio submission, and they can make your character more interesting, by giving special abilities, such as Eidetic Memory, or faults, like Honesty or having a dark secret in the past. Attributes Finally, there are attributes. These are parts of the character that exist in everyone to some degree or another. Listed below are some potential levels of an attribute and a justification for such. As with all characters, this may vary with the character concept. Intelligence: Good- The pilot has often spent years in training, and likely with some study of moderately complex subjects, such as controls, physics of spaceflight, and spending time problem solving in sims. Willpower: Fair- Nothing special about pilots in particular in this department. Reaction: Good- When moving at the speeds of a spaceship, this attribute is essential to being able to react on time. Strength: Mediocre- This could be stronger, depending on the pilot, but this attribute is not needed in any serious amounts in order to operate a ship. Perception: Good- Like reaction, being able to see things coming is important. Charisma: Fair- Nothing particularly special, perhaps something of an ego being a pilot, or being able to socially capitalize off the ability, so this attribute could be higher. Agility: Mediocre- Like strength, there is no special reason to have much ability in this area for a pilot. Constitution: Fair- Nothing special at all about pilots in this area. Sample +sheet --------------------------< Pilot (Pi) - Human Male >------------------------- Sponsored by OS: Red-Eye Flight - http://ebooks.jointhesaga.com! Feature Character Experience Points: 26 ---< Attributes >------------------------------------------< Value: 80 XP >--- Intelligence: Good Perception: Good Willpower: Great Charisma: Fair Reaction: Good Agility: Mediocre Strength: Mediocre Constitution: Fair ---< Skills >---------------------------------------------< Value: 384 XP >--- Fair Bluff Good Piloting Fair Climbing Fair Stealth Good Computer Operation Fair Street Savvy Good Dogfighting Mediocre Swimming Mediocre Electronics Superb Terran Standard Good Energy Pistol Fair Throwing Fair Intimidation Good Turret Gunnery Fair Mathematics Mediocre Underworld Lore Fair Mechanic Fair Zero-G Manuevers Fair Physics ---< Gifts, Faults, & Quirks >-----------------------------< Value: 10 XP >--- Greed High Pain Threshold ---< Wounds >-----------------------------------------< Status: Undamaged >--- Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incap. Nr. Death _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -----------------------------------------------------< Skill System v2.31 >--- Category:Otherspace_Archetypes